The present invention relates to a sewing machine provided with a workpiece fabric folding device or a pocket setting device, and more particularly, to a type thereof in which a label is suitably stitched at a desired position on a sewing locus of a pocket cloth whose edge portions are folded relative to a garment.
A conventional pocket setter is adapted to stitch a pocket cloth (first workpiece fabric) to a front garment (second workpiece fabric). In this case, an outer edge portion of the pocket cloth is folded back, and the folded back portion is mounted on the garment, and is stitched along the folded edge portion to the garment. To this effect, the conventional pocket setter is provided with a gauge plate, a bending depression plate and folding segments. The gauge plate is provided for mounting thereon the pocket cloth at a position above a sewing table on which a garment is mounted. Further, the bending depression plate is provided for downwardly bending an outer edge portion of the pocket cloth along an external contour of the gauge plate. The bending depression plate is positioned over the pocket cloth mounted on the gauge plate and presses the pocket cloth for bending the outer edge portion thereof. Furthermore, the folding segments are provided movable in a direction parallel with the table for positioning the downwardly bent portion of the pocket cloth below the gauge plate. That is, the folding segments can be moved to positions below the gauge plate. Thus, the outer edge portion of the pocket cloth is folded back at a position above the garment, and the folded back portion is then stitched to the garment, to thereby provide a pocket to the garment.
Further, there has been proposed a sewing machine having a label feeding mechanism for automatically feeding a label to a stitched position. The sewing machine is provided with a grip unit for gripping a label, an arm having one end fixed to the grip unit and another end movably supported to a sewing machine frame, and an actuator for moving the arm. When the label is gripped by the grip unit, the arm is moved by the actuator. Accordingly, the label gripped by the grip unit is fed to a position below a pressure foot, and the label is then held on the sewing table by the pressure foot for stitching the label to a garment.
In the above conventional fabric folding device and the label feeding mechanism, it would be impossible to place the label at a proper stitched portion of the folded-back portion of the pocket cloth. That is, it would be impossible to simultaneously fold the label as well as the pocket cloth and to set the label together with the folded pocket cloth onto the garment for subsequent concurrent stitching of the label and the pocket cloth onto the garment.